Thursday Thirteen #21

A couple of weeks ago I posted a TT consisting of some of my books with the word “day” or “days” in their titles.   Casting around for a subject for this week’s TT, and not wanting to return to sock country, I thought that since this is a meme, I’ll look for books with “meme” in their titles.  Of course, I don’t have any, but  I then broke the word into its components and looked for books with titles that contain two Ms and two Es.  I thought that would give me a wide choice but in fact there were fewer than I expected. However I did find enough for a TT so, here they are…

Thirteen Books With Titles That Contain Two Ms and Two Es

"Hammerstrike" by Walter Winward.  There are lots of novels about Allied prisoners escaping captivity in Germany during the Second World War, but this one is about German prisoners of war trying to escape from England.  A good read.  Buy it here

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"I'm A Stranger Here Myself" by Bill Bryson.  This is a collection of Bill Bryson’s articles written after he returned to the USA after 20 years in England, with his British wife and children.  They first appeared in a British newspaper but in this American edition they have been slightly adapted.  Very witty, and at times thought provoking.  Buy it here

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"The Commissar's Report" by Martyn Burke.  The Cold War was still going when I bought this book.  It’s a comedy, yes, with elements of tragedy and an undercurrent of satire.  Buy it here

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"Memoirs Of An Unfit Mother" by Anne Robinson.  Anne Robinson is now best known for her game-show-hostess-as-dominatrix performances on The Weakest Link, but she has behind her a long career as a print and TV journalist.  I didn’t know she had written an autobiography until I found it in a bargain bookstore in Jacksonville.  I haven’t read it yet but I expect I shall enjoy it when I do. Buy it here

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"Le Malade Imaginaire" by Moliere.  A leftover from my schooldays. I wish I could tell you all that I read Moliere in the original French for my own entertainment, but in fact  I haven’t opened this in decades, though I still remember story I studied for A level.  Buy it here

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"The Moors Murders" by Johnathan Goodman.  Even though they took place in the 1960s, the Moors Murders are part of the British folk memory.  I have a large selection of true crime books, including several on this case. This one is especially good, describing what Brady and Hindley did without attempting to excuse any of it. Mainly because it was inexcusable.  The bastards.  Buy it here

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"The Tommyknockers" by Stephen King.  This was one of King’s better books, in my opinion, before he got too repetitive.  They made a film of it which  was pretty lousy.  You could almost hear the  Hollywood execs interfering with the story for the sake of box office.  Buy it here

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"The Somme" by Martin Gilbert.  Martin Gilbert is my favourite historian  Apart from his multi-volume biography of Winston Churchill, he has written on a number of subjects on 20th century history. This account of the Somme battle is comprehensive and fascinating, managing to balance both the grand overview with stories of individual soldiers on both sides.  Buy it here

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"Flashman In The Great Game" by George MacDonald Fraser.  All the Flashman books are brilliant.  Minutely researched, these are substantial, informative and amusing novels of the Victoria era.  If you haven’t read them yet, you have a treat in store!  Buy it here

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"Remembering Peter Sellers" by Graham Stark.  Graham Stark is a character actor and comedian’s sidekick with a very long career behind him.  He was in a number of the Pink Panther films and was a long-time friend of Peter Sellers.  This is an entertaining account of their friendship over the years and is an interesting contrast with certain very negative, almost destructive, biographies of Sellers that have appeared in recent years.  Buy it here

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"The Palermo Ambush" by Colin Forbes.  From the cover this is obviously a war novel, like a great many of mine, but I’m damned if I can remember the story.  I have several books by Colin Forbes, and they are all good.   Buy it here

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"How Wal-Mart Is Destryoing America (and the World)" by Bill Quinn.  So many people hate Wal-Mart, and even more people shop there.  I have just skimmed this book so far, but it seems interesting.  Are they really plotting the end small-town America?  Maybe it’s nothing  we haven’t heard already, but that makes it no less accurate.   Buy it here

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"Asterix At The Olympic Games" by Goscinny and Uderzo.  Yes, I know this is a comic book,  but since it has a hard cover I’ll call it a graphic novel!  I have a lot of Asterix, Tintin and Lucky Luke books, in English and French, and from time to time I go back to them and still enjoy them. Sue me!   Buy it here

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This is actually one of two TTs I have put up today.  The other is at Buck Naked Politics. Please go see it.

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Comments

[pussreboots]

Fascinating list. I might have to add some of them to my wish list. Happy TT.

[Tink]

I have Molière and King. What a fun way to go through your books! I might steal the idea for a future list.
My TT lists 13 activities / sports I did or still do.

[Ed]

Great List. I am going to have to reda some of them myself.

Ed

[Suprina]

Oh my gosh, I have actually read a couple of these!
Great list!
Happy T13!

[WhatWorksForMom]

How convenient that WalMart of course makes the list! LOL!

[Comedy Plus]

I love how you do this. Excellent. Have a great TT. :)

[Susan Helene Gottfried]

Another neat idea, Nicholas! I had a copy of Hammerstrike here, but I think I sent it out via one of the trading sites or something.

[Wylie Kinson]

I love Bill Bryson. I'll have to pick that one up. Didn't Stephen King admit to being pretty coked out during the writing of The Tommyknockers? Hmmmm...
And where do you come up with these great TT topics?

[The Gal Herself]

Even more than this week's list I enjoyed seeing your new, tropical header!

[Morgan St. John]

this is really cool.
hmmm, now I'm wracking my brain...

give me a minute...

Nope, can't think of a single one off the top of my head. ;-) how long did this take you?

Love your site.
Morgan

[Yuriko]

Thanks for the welcome! I must really be some kind of illiterate because I don't recognize many of your bookson your list. :(
I guess I have to start somewhere. :) Happy TT!

[Jennie]

Excellent TT. I'm particularly fond of book oriented ones :). Have a great Thursday!

[Chelle Y.]

You're funny! I do not read enough variety of books to do that. I only read one Stephen King book (Misery) and it scared to me death. I started to read "It" but could not finish it because I am already afraid of clowns. Haha!

[-E]

Great list, what a good idea for themes. Happy TT!

[mom not mum]

Hope I'm not double posting - I got lost out in cyberspace.

Love your list. The only one I've read is Tommyknockers - my first Stephen King experience.

My TT is on books as well.

[mummifiedx5]

What a great list! I have to tell you I haven't read any of these...added a couple to my "wanting to read" list :)
Thanks for stopping by my blog!

[Xakara]

I now feel compelled to go see if I actually own The Tommyknockers among my King books. I was so traumatized with how the mini-series turned out, I may have hidden it away to never think of the adaptation again.

Now I want to do another book list, but I did that last week and should wait a bit. This week was television, next week should likely make the leap to movies...hmm...

Happy TT :)

~X

[Mama Pajama]

Great idea for TT! My brother played "The Hypochondriac" in the one-act play his senior year of high school. They won the state championship! That's the only way I recognized the Moliere book : ). I had also seen the book about The Weakest Link lady.....great post.

[Robin from Israel]

I don't know, I liked the socks... ;-)

[Joanne]

I've only read the Stephen King book but the Wal-Mart one does seem interesting. Another great 13! Thanks for checking out my movie quiz. Have a wonderful weekend!

[J. Lynne]

Doesn't The Somme only have one "e"? I haven't read any of those. Though the Wal-mart one sounds interesting.

Happy TT!

[Ash]

I would like to borrow the Anne Robinson bio, it sounds as if it would be interesting.
;)

More Socks!

[Joely]

What a unique idea for a list! Hapyp TT!

[Starrlight]

What a great list! I have the Moliere and King and The Moor Murders as well.

[Nicole Austin]

Great TT! I love the older Stephen King stuff. Most of his books they tried to make into movies lost something in the translation.

[Moondancer Drake]

Nice topic, very original. Thanks for visiting my blog and have a great TT!

http://moondancerdrake.livejournal.com

[Erin the Innocent]

What a great idea for a TT! I'm adding a couple of these books to my TBB list :)

[Dragonheart]

Interesting lists of books! Fun idea for T13. The Somme book sounds good - my humans were just in France on holidays and visited many of the battlefields from the Battle of the Somme and the many war memorials in the area.

[Elisa]

What an interesting idea for a list of books! Have you ever stopped by my Monday Game? Thanks for stopping by my TT!

[Alissa]

Hello! Thanks for you comment on my TT.

I'm wondering what you thought of the Bill Bryson book. Your short commentary was favorable. I read Notes From a Small Island (right before he went back to America) and vacillated between loving and hating him. He's brilliant and witty and I think his writing is superb, but he thinks incredibly highly of himself and puffs himself up at the expense of the people around him.

Anyway, nice to meet you! ~Alissa

[No Nonsense girl]

Great list!!!

[Titania]

This was a very intersting list. There are a few I seriously want to add to my "to read list".

Memoirs of an Unfit Mother: Very curious about Miss Anne.

The TommyKnockers by Stephen King: I am a fan of King's ever since he started writing. I think I have most of his books except for the Dark Tower series. I have never been fond of most movies based on fictional books. They seem to lose that enchantment when Hollywood gets its grip on them.

The Palermo Ambush: You may not remember the storyline but I will take your word and give it a go.

How Wal-Mart is Destroying Amercia: This is a must read book. I belong to a Wal-mart watchdog group that is constantly on Wal-Marts asses for all the crooked, conviving things they do. They treat their employees like shit.

Great list. I enjoy your meat and potato T13. Great job.

As you may noticed I have not been posting Thursday Thirteens as much . One reason is my husband is off work that day so as a couple we spend quality time together . Another reason is I am just burned out on meme's. But I will still stop by the good ones such as yours. :o)

[Mary Emken]

Nick,I have to tell you your TT postings are quite entertaining. I could not stop laughing after I read your sock posting. What a crative mind. With your collection of books you could open up a library.

Mary Emken

[Matthew James Didier]

Now this is a great idea for a list! I'm strangely intrigued about the Anne Robinson book too!

[Linda R, Moore]

I love the Asterix books and have read them in three languages.

I liked the Bill Bryson book, too. Especially the bit about the junk food he used to eat as a kid and his wife's Look.

The Moors murderers were local to me growing up in England.

[Di]

Houston...we have a problem. Di sometimes doesn't have the attention span to wait for the next screen and type in the letters. But after re-reading the TT, I remember what I said.

I have not read that Bill Bryson book, but I am very proud that I introduced my itinerant niece to Bryson's work when I bought her In a Sunburned Country prior to her trip to Australia.

The Moors Murders sounds right up my alley. I love true crime...when it is done well, not when it is "ripped from the headlines" and goes immediately to the paperback shelf in the grocery store to capitalize on some over-publicized incident. I think that anyone who claims to love true crime should be REQUIRED to read In Cold Blood as it is supposed to be the first of the genre, and,without even considering the back-stories now made famous by the two recent Capote movies, is fascinating and well-written.

Now I have DEFINITELY written more than I did in my first comment. But my tee time isn't until 10:08.

I do recall that I also wrote that I am shamelessly ripping off Nicholas's idea because I have a journal dating back to 1997 from which I can surely find several TT's...if anyone wants to beat me to it...I was thinking about books containing the words:

love
night
girl
into
light
good

Those are just the ones that immediately come to mind.

Di

[marilyn]

I love booklist TT's.

I read A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson and really enjoyed it. I should see if our library has this one.